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White House Hispanic Summit Meets In Albuquerque

More than a dozen White House administrators arrived in Albuquerque on Saturday to meet with the Hispanic community.

It's part of President Barack Obama administration's Hispanic Community Action Summits.

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the U.S. However, some Hispanic advocates are criticizing the Obama administration for not doing enough to help their community.

The Obama staffers said the meetings were not part of the administrations 2012 campaign. Officials said the administration has been holding meetings with Hispanic communities since day one in office.

"One thing is to have direct relationships with folks. Second thing is to have a two-way conversation," said Juan Sepulveda, of the Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

For eight hours, the administration officials educated and listened to the community, allowing folks to speak out about their concerns.

The summit covered a wide range of topics from jobs to immigration reform.

"Issues on early childhood development and after school alliance are very import issues in our community," Farmington resident Flo Trujillo said. "I think we can all do better. There is never a perfect answer."

The Obama administration has been criticized about not doing enough for the Hispanic community in some circles.

"I think they're doing a lot but I don't think we know a lot about the things they are doing," Albuquerque resident John Romero said.

White house administrators said by creating this intimate dialogue with the community, they can identify problems and work on solutions

"It doesn't just become a conversation today but that action items move forward," Sepulveda said.

New Mexicans are well represented in the White House. A Former Bernalillo County commissioner, secretary and other former state leaders now work in the White House administration for the Hispanic Action Summit.

Administration officials said the next step is to take all the issues and concerns from the summit and keep the communication going with New Mexicans through a social media network.

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